TOKYO -- The contest to lead Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party went to a runoff after the first round of voting failed to produce a majority winner, leaving two former foreign ministers -- Fumio Kishida and Taro Kono -- vying to become the nation's next prime minister.

Kishida narrowly won the first round of voting, gaining a total of 256 votes to beat Kono's 255. Former internal affairs ministers Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda, both female candidates, were eliminated.

LDP lawmakers cast half of the 762 first-round ballots, with 382 of the votes allocated to rank-and-file party members who number around 1.1 million.

The runoff will be fought over 429 ballots -- 382 from lawmakers and 47 from the LDP's prefectural chapters. The system favors a candidate that has more support from politicians.

With Kishida gaining support from 146 lawmakers in the opening round, ahead of Kono's 86, the Hiroshima-native is in the driving seat to win the election.